[QUOTE](CNN) - At 18, Taylor Wilson has probably accomplished more than most people will in a lifetime.
He is the youngest person in the world to build a nuclear fusion reactor. And he won national acclaim for a counter terror device that sniffs out nuclear material in cargo containers. If that’s not enough, he built a prototype for a device that generates medical isotopes - a feat that could make diagnosing and treating cancer cheaper and more widely accessible to patients.
Wilson has won a dozen awards at the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the Super Bowl of science fairs, over the course of his high school career. Not to mention tens of thousands of dollars in prize money.
“Some people wonder if he’s for real,” said Bill Brinsmead, one of Wilson's mentors, and a Senior Technician in the Physics Department at the University of Nevada, Reno. Brinsmead and others who know him are sure that he is. The director of The Davidson Academy, Wilson's high school, calls him “larger than life.”
It would be easy to conclude that what sets Taylor apart is his rare intellect, something only a tiny fraction of the world possesses.
But ask Wilson why he’s successful and the answer might surprise you.
“I think it’s mainly passion. We all have a similar intellectual capacity within reason but the people who really change the world, the Steve Jobs of the world, have always had that passion, that drive," he said. "They have that unique image of how the world should be and I have that. And I think that’s what sets me apart. You know my brain does work differently, but it’s the passion that really makes me successful."
And where passion is concerned, it seems Wilson has a nearly inexhaustible supply.
That and, as his father, Kenneth Wilson, points out: “He never takes no for an answer.”
Wilson started building the nuclear fusion reactor in his garaged but finished it at the University of Nevada, Reno. He did it initially because he was amazed by the power contained within the atom and obsessed with making things radioactive.
Here's what he had to say on that subject:
"I had this obsession with radioactivity, and short of contaminating something, to make something radioactive, you had to have a source of neutrons. And I don’t have weapons-grade plutonium around the house, or at least not at that time. But anyway, to make things radioactive, I would need a neutron source, so I decided to build this fusion reactor, but kind of with that came this interest in fusion."
Subsequently, he used his reactor as a basis for the devices he invented.[/QUOTE]
Source: [url]http://whatsnext.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/05/the-18-year-old-who-built-a-nuclear-reactor/?hpt=hp_t3[/url]
And then the government took his reactor and he was never heard from again.
This guy is such a huge inspiration. He basically taught himself everything he'd need to know about nuclear physics, got some help and lab space from a university professor, and did it. He also apparently designed a detector 'related to his reactor design' for the TSA and DHS when he had an article run on him and his reactor by Popular Science. My guess is that said reactor uses neutrons instead of x-rays to detect stuff. It'd have a lower wavelength and thus higher resolution, so it wouldn't surprise me if they started rolling those out.
[QUOTE=erazor;36213983][IMG]http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwfog6g2qu1r8awyto2_500.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
No Jong-Un, you can't eat this.
fucking hell, it seems like you have to have built your own fusion reactor before you're 20 if you want to be anyone in physics
I'm so glad we live in this day and age. 100 years ago and even longer before, these sorts of people wouldn't be funded or found out or - worse still - called frauds or ridiculed. I am so glad someone who can benefit the world is getting this sort of help and attention.
[QUOTE=DarkendSky;36214164]This guy is such a huge inspiration. He basically taught himself everything he'd need to know about nuclear physics, got some help and lab space from a university professor, and did it. He also apparently designed a detector 'related to his reactor design' for the TSA and DHS when he had an article run on him and his reactor by Popular Science. My guess is that said reactor uses neutrons instead of x-rays to detect stuff. It'd have a lower wavelength and thus higher resolution, so it wouldn't surprise me if they started rolling those out.[/QUOTE]
I've never really understood how people get inspiration from things like this.
To me, it's just a discouraging reminder that some people are just superior. He says it's because he has more passion, but that's bullshit, it's all in his genes.
Our society nowadays lets the smarter people among us thrive on this, which benefits the human race as a whole. If only someone like Nikola Tesla got this sort of help, instead of having the douchebag Thomas Eddison fuck him over at every turn.
[QUOTE=uzikus;36214055]And then the government took his reactor and he was never heard from again.[/QUOTE]
Hours later, whole family disappeared, prototypes gone along with everything else related.
:downs:
This reminds me of a few similar things I've seen, like how the Kodak company had inexplicably constructed a nuclear reactor in their basement as some part of their quality control process or god knows what, or the other kid who built a reactor in his garage or basement but was a fuckton of a lot less disciplined about managing it.
[QUOTE=erazor;36213983][IMG]http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwfog6g2qu1r8awyto2_500.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6JfJVQmwehA/TjmCagi-GKI/AAAAAAAAAwo/8QgLfkXS9fk/s1600/funny+ahmadinejad+Picture.jpg[/img]
I must be hated.
God I wish I had this guy's brains. Oh well, just have to put the hours in to compensate.
It boggles my mind how someone of such age can achieve so many things in such short times.
"No officer, I don't know why there is a nuclear reactor in my garage..."
I'm waiting for the news "Hobbyist flies to space with homemade rocket"
Sure they don't mean fission? Because fusion would mean this kid built something that replicates what happens in the centre of the Sun, which requires extremely high temperatures/pressure (and a lot more infrastructure/money).
Also it would be THE solution to the whole energy problem, providing nearly unlimited amounts of energy (and thus a lot more media attention).
[QUOTE=Number-41;36214993]Sure they don't mean fission?[/QUOTE]
Yeah, I... would assume so. If this kid built a FUSION reactor this would be worldwide news by now.
He probably built a fusor, which to be honest only takes time and money. I'm much more interested in his detector.
[QUOTE=Number-41;36214993]Sure they don't mean fission? Because fusion would mean this kid built something that replicates what happens in the centre of the Sun, which requires extremely high temperatures/pressure (and a lot more infrastructure/money).
Also it would be THE solution to the whole energy problem, providing nearly unlimited amounts of energy (and thus a lot more media attention).[/QUOTE]
We have fusion reactors already. They just don't put out more energy than it takes to start the reaction, and they aren't exactly continuous.... It wouldn't be surprising if he managed to build one with funding though.
[QUOTE=Swebonny;36215317]He probably built a fusor, which to be honest only takes time and money. I'm much more interested in his detector.[/QUOTE]
time, energy and [I]money[/I]
I can't justify spending ~$1000 on something that does nothing much except possibly electrocuting me, if it even works at all
[QUOTE=Number-41;36214993]Sure they don't mean fission? Because fusion would mean this kid built something that replicates what happens in the centre of the Sun, which requires extremely high temperatures/pressure (and a lot more infrastructure/money).
Also it would be THE solution to the whole energy problem, providing nearly unlimited amounts of energy (and thus a lot more media attention).[/QUOTE]
They do mean nuclear fusion, since a fusor works by merging the nuclei of two atoms. The centre of a fusor does indeed reach very high temperatures, but it is contained by a electrostatic field(source - wikipedia).
[QUOTE=Swebonny;36215317]He probably built a fusor, which to be honest only takes time and money. I'm much more interested in his detector.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, he built a fusor. It's pretty cool that he built it this young (Most builders are older), but it's not this huge amazing thing the media makes it out to be.
As for his detector, iirc he's using the neutrons generated from his fusor to cause a small reaction in any nuclear material that would be hidden inside the object being scanned, the results of the reaction can then be detected.
[QUOTE=CommunistCookie;36214505]I've never really understood how people get inspiration from things like this.
To me, it's just a discouraging reminder that some people are just superior. He says it's because he has more passion, but that's bullshit, it's all in his genes.[/QUOTE]
It's pretty much accepted that within reason, it's all in your environment. While genes account for something like a quarter (even though it's really unknown), most would agree that the definite majority of what makes someone is their environment and actions leading up to anything.
Really just kind of depressing when you realize that nobody really has "free will", but rather everything is just the random chance of their genes coming from the random chance of the sperm and eggs of their parents who by certain circumstances in their lives let them be together. And that kid is shaped by those genes in conjunction with his surroundings and everything that he comes into contact with. He never really has a true "choice". Any decision he makes will only have been made because what has already happened to him. Any choice will happen because that is what is going to happen.
Then I go back to surfing the internet.
[QUOTE=Killerelf12;36215374]We have fusion reactors already. They just don't put out more energy than it takes to start the reaction, and they aren't exactly continuous.... It wouldn't be surprising if he managed to build one with funding though.[/QUOTE]
Aren't those the small ones? Because I remember there being this gigantic Fusion Reactor being built in France that never gets finished because new components, techniques etc are constantly being brought in.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned my [url=http://facepunch.com/threads/1092231]attempt[/url] at an nuclear reactor.
:v:
in a cave
with a box of scraps
Jesus christ Mr. T, you've gone through like 20 programming languages, and now you want to make a nuclear reactor?!
[QUOTE=CommunistCookie;36214505]I've never really understood how people get inspiration from things like this.
To me, it's just a discouraging reminder that some people are just superior. He says it's because he has more passion, but that's bullshit, it's all in his genes.[/QUOTE]
It's pretty much accepted that within reason, it's all in your environment. While genes account for something like a quarter (even though it's really unknown), most would agree that the definite majority of what makes someone is their environment and actions leading up to anything.
Really just kind of depressing when you realize that nobody really has "free will", but rather everything is just the random chance of their genes coming from the random chance of the sperm and eggs of their parents who by certain circumstances in their lives let them be together. And that kid is shaped by those genes in conjunction with his surroundings and everything that he comes into contact with. He never really has a true "choice". Any decision he makes will only have been made because what has already happened to him. Any choice will happen because that is what is going to happen.
Then I go back to surfing the internet.
1% of the populace has 99% of the intellect!
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.
